"Best" based on what? What we like or what you would like? I don't think its a matter of a lot of it coming down to personal choice so much as all of it coming down to personal choice.

Why not ask if you could spend a day in each department to get a feel for it? I am sure you will have a better idea of where you might want to spend the next 2 - 3 years from actually experiencing the different departments rather than picking based on any advice you will get from people on this board about which one is "best".

May 12, '10

I agree with the above poster--this is ALL about personal choice, especially if you are going to get into the area of signing contracts for bonuses. Where OB is concerned, did you do a rotation in school? Think about how you felt during your clinicals...could you see yourself doing that kind of nursing everyday? MedSurg you are going to get patients from all over the spectrum. You could be caring for 6 patients each shift, and each of them have drastically different problems? For some people that can be overwhelming, because it's a lot to grasp if you aren't well versed in a lot of different areas. Neuro--I have to say that I'm a bit biased, I worked there for 5 years, and LOVED it...but Neuro is one of those places that most people either love or hate...and you should ask if the unit is open or closed, meaning do they take off service patients? If they do, when things are slow--you could be getting a lot of overflow medsurg patients, if they don't then what happens to staffing, do you get called off or pulled to other units in the hospital? I think you should try to do some share time before you make your final decision.

Sign on bonus: lots of people I'm sure will have lots of things to say about this...my advice, be careful...ask questions, like do you have to stay at the facility for x amount of time, or do you have to stay on that particular unit for x amount of time to get the full bonus. Get everything in writing, don't trust anything they are telling you verbally. And think carefully about the length of time--you may not seem like 3 years is a long time, but it can seem like decades if you are stuck doing something that is making you absolutely miserable!

Lastly, KUDOS to you for having your choice of 3 different units to work on, and being offered a sign on bonus...these odds are few and far between for most of us! Good luck with your choice!

May 13, '10

I am biased as well. I work med-surg and love it! You truly get everything, we have a lot of ob/gyn and occasionally get neuro patients as well. It never gets boring because there is always something different. I have been working there almost 2 years and can honestly say I still see new things on probably a monthly basis. Its an excellent foundation for anywhere else you might work, imo provides the best opportunity to learn time management and prioritization and gives you a feel for all different areas of nursing from hospice to ortho to psych to ob and ante-partum without having to make a commitment to any one area for any period of time. If there would be a signing bonus involved I do not think a 2-3 year committment to working med-surg would be a hardship in anyway, you get lots of learning opporunities and wont get bored.